


Met Their Match

by dimensionhoppingrose, HiddenTreasures



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Dating, F/M, Fluff, Matchmaking, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-09-16 17:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9281369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/dimensionhoppingrose, https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenTreasures/pseuds/HiddenTreasures
Summary: At the insistence of his sister, James Noble stops by Rose Tyler’s shop, but what he doesn’t know is that Rose runs a matchmaking business. While Rose tries to match him with a perfect partner, James starts to realize he’s falling for the woman who is trying to set him up on a date with other women.





	1. Chapter 1

“Her name is Rose Tyler, I think you’d like her.”

“...What exactly am I going to her for?”

Donna just smiled mysteriously, and James narrowed his eyes. “Are you trying to hook me up with a prostitute? Because that’s weird, Donna.”

“What? Oh, my God, _no_!” Donna rolled her eyes. “Look, just go, all right?”

“Why should I?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll text you every single day telling you to go until I die or you block my number.”

She made a _very_ compelling argument. She would do it, too.

“ _Fine_ ,” James huffed. “I’ll go.”

Donna grinned triumphantly.

That was how James found himself parked behind an unassuming building on the outskirts of London, wondering what on Earth he’d gotten himself into. He triple-checked the address before he opened the door with the words ‘By Any Other Name’ scrawled in flowing gold letters.

An electronic bell dinged upon the opening and closing of the door, and a pretty blonde looked up from the only desk in the room.

“Hello!” she said brightly. “Welcome to By Any Other Name. I’m Rose Tyler, how can I be of help to you?”

“You’re Rose Tyler?” James asked, his heart thumping a little bit quicker at the familiar name.

He hadn’t been sure what he’d been expecting Rose to look like, but anything his mind’s eye had come up with paled to her in real life. Her dyed-blonde hair hung to her shoulders, and framed a face that was unconventionally beautiful. Her eyes were warm and inviting and her smile had a slightly teasing quality, as if it held all the universe’s secrets, and he couldn’t help but walk up to her and shake her proffered hand.

“Hello,” James said dumbly.

“That’s me,” Rose said with a bright smile. “And you are?”

“Er… James. James Noble. My um, sister sent me here.”

“Donna?” Rose guessed with a small chuckle. “Did she actually tell you what I do here or send you here without any information?”

“Um… sent me without any information.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “I told her not to do that. This is a matchmaking service. We help people find partners when they’re having… trouble with dating. We also have a ninety-nine percent success rate.”

A matchmaking service. Of course. James had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Donna would send him to a matchmaker. She’d probably had the best of intentions, to her credit.

“Right,” James said slowly. “So… matchmaking.”

“Would you like to sit down?” Rose asked, gesturing to the open chair in front of her desk. “Maybe get a bit more information?”

James hesitated. Did he really want to partake in a matchmaking service? Was he really ready for another relationship? His last one had been enough to turn him away from relationships for the past year. Finding out his girlfriend of two years had been unfaithful to him for the latter half of their relationship had been quite a blow to his ego, and to his confidence.

“Since you’re a referral from one of our successful matches, the first match is free,” Rose pitched, smiling enticingly.

James’s eyes zeroed in on the little sliver of tongue he spied in the corner of her mouth, and all higher brain function seemed to cease. He found himself sitting rather ungracefully in the chair she was gesturing to.

Rose highlighted all of the important information he would need to know if he decided to go forward with being matched, and within a half hour, he was filling out a five-page survey about his qualities and attributes.

A surprising amount of effort went into this, James thought as he filled out the paperwork. The idea of matchmaking had always seemed a bit… hokey to him. And certainly old-fashioned. He wasn’t sure what he would have expected had he known what he was getting into, but this amount of detail certainly wasn’t it.

“All right,” Rose said exuberantly as James handed back the packet of paperwork. “So basically what happens now is we’ll have a quick meeting so I can get to know you—paperwork can only tell me so much, after all—and I’ll call you within a week for a match.”

“You sound confident about that,” James couldn’t help but tease, and Rose beamed back.

“Well, I have a fairly impeccable record. The last time it took more than a week, it turned out the bloke was gay and trying to hide it.”

James laughed at that. “Fair enough. So what do you want to know?”

“How about you tell me about yourself?” Rose suggested. “Where you’re from, what you’re doing with yourself, what you hope to be doing five years from now. You know, the generic ice-breaker prompts you do at university orientation and stuff.”

For the next hour, James told Rose all about himself. About how he’d been interested in the universe ever since he was a kid and had sleepovers at his Grandpa Wilf’s house so they could look up at the stars together. Those nights laying with his grandfather with nothing but the moonlight shining on them were his best memories, and they fueled his desire to one day become an astronaut. Well, at least until he was about fifteen years old and started taking physics classes, and decided to study astrophysics at uni.

He somehow found himself admitting to Rose that he was rather skeptical about being matched for a date ever since his last relationship went south.

“I’m not sure if I’m looking for anything too serious,” he said.

“Well, why don’t you try it, and see how it goes?” Rose suggested. “The worst that could happen is you never speak to the person again. And remember, the first match is free.”

James hesitated before nodding. “All right.” It was free, after all. The worst that happened was it didn’t work out. He had very little shame, after all.

“Brilliant. Do you have any questions for me?”

“Do…” James had to struggle to keep his voice casual. “Are you seeing anyone? Or are you the type of person who finds love for everyone but herself?” He added that last part teasingly, and Rose laughed.

“I have a boyfriend, as a matter of fact.” _Oh_. James tried not to be disappointed by that. She had a boyfriend. Of course she had a boyfriend. She was far too pretty to be single. “Anything else?”

James shook his head. “You said you’ll call within a week?”

“Yup. If for some reason I can’t find a match within that time, I’ll at least call to let you know.”

“Right. Sounds good.”

oOoOo

For the next several days, James couldn’t get Rose Tyler off his mind. Every time his phone chirped, he grabbed at it eagerly, hoping for a call from By Any Other Name, and it wasn’t until the fifth day since filling out the matchmaking survey that he finally received a call.

“I’ve sent you your match’s information via the email address you’ve provided,” Rose said. “It should have everything you need, but if you have any questions or concerns, please call me.”

James checked his email after his call with Rose, and he saw an email from By Any Other Name. He opened it and skimmed the information. He was matched with Lynda Moss, a social worker who worked for the city.

He sent her an email introducing himself, and asking her to coffee this coming weekend.

Saturday afternoon found James sitting at a coffee shop, waiting for his date to show up. Lynda. With a Y. She had seemed nice enough through email, but honestly, James wasn’t interested. He felt a little bad about that.

“Hi, James?” A blonde woman approached James, and he stood with a smile.

“That’s me. Lynda?”

They shook hands and sat. Lynda ordered a tea. “So, what do you do?” James asked curiously.

“Oh, I’m a social worker. You?”

“I’m getting a doctorate. Studying astrophysics.”

“Oh, _wow_ , really? That’s brilliant.” Lynda leaned forward, clearly interested. “What’s that like?”

James shrugged. “Interesting, I suppose. The whole universe is just teeming with life. There’s so much out there, and we humans have barely scratched the surface. Everything we know about the world is constantly changing, constantly moving forward. I think it’s brilliant.”

Barely an hour through lunch, and James was getting antsy to leave. Lynda was sweet, and he was sure they could be friends, but he didn’t feel a spark of romance whenever she smiled or laughed or spoke.

He sighed, and he hated to do it, but he faked a paper that was due by midnight tomorrow, and fled the shop as quickly as he could.

James emailed Rose as soon as he was home to tell her about the date, and settled in for his usually Saturday night activities—playing games online. Rose emailed back a couple hours later, assuring him she would get to work on his next date right away, and she asked if they could set up a meeting to go over what hadn’t worked on the date.

 _What didn’t work is that it wasn’t you_.

James shook off the thought. He’d fully intended to say he didn’t want to continue with the matchmaking service, because it was useless, honestly. But Rose wanted to meet with him. How was he supposed to say no to that?

He emailed back to let her know when he was free, and they decided on Monday evening after he finished working in the lab.

He would never admit it to anyone, but he was excited to meet with Rose Tyler again. Donna was right, she was definitely his type. Too bad she was already in a relationship, and James tried not to feel too guilty that he was attracted to a woman with a boyfriend.

“James, come on in,” Rose said Monday evening when he strolled into her office. He sat down in the same chair he’d sat in a week ago. “Can I get you something to drink? Tea? Coffee?”

“Just water,” he answered. The downside of working in a lab all day was the restriction on food or drinks in the lab, and he found he was too often dehydrated after a lab day.

Rose filled a cup for him then sat back behind her desk.

“I am more than happy to discuss the outcome of your date,” Rose began. “I appreciate all the feedback I can get. However, if you do decide to continue with our services here, there is the small matter of the matching fee. Every subsequent match made from here on out will cost twenty pounds.”

James was already reaching for his wallet by the time she finished her sentence, and he hardly realized it until Rose grinned brightly at him. Oh, God, he could lose himself in that smile. Not only was her tongue teasing him between her lips, but her whole face seemed to light up with joy, and it made her look so beautiful. Well, more beautiful than normal.

“So, while I am assuming you’d like to continue with our service,” Rose teased, “let’s finish discussing the shortcomings of your first match, yeah?”

James nodded, sipping his water. “I mean… she was nice enough? But I just didn’t really feel anything click, y’know?” _Not like with you_. “I don’t think we had much in common. We talked for a bit about what we do and I could definitely see her eyes glazing over.”

Rose was busily taking notes. “Not enough common interests, then?” James shook his head. “Right. What about personality?”

“Well, like I said, she was nice. A bit… perky. Bubbly.”

“Not a fan of bubbly?”

“I’ve got nothing against it,” James said quickly. “It ehm… might have been too much.”

He felt a bit stupid. He knew exactly why the date hadn’t worked out. But he couldn’t exactly tell Rose it was because he had a thing for _her_.

They talked for a little while longer, Rose trying to narrow down the exact reasons why the date hadn’t worked.

“All right,” she said finally. “That’s enough to work with. I’ll work on finding you another match and get back to you soon.”

“Okay.” James sighed inwardly. “That sounds good.”

Rose had another date for him lined up for the weekend. It went about as well as his date with Lynda. Well, perhaps a _little_ better. This date was studying to be a doctor, a medical doctor, so at least they could talk science with each other and not get bored. She was nice, and clever, and witty, and really, it should’ve been a good match. And yet James kept thinking back to Rose, and how a hypothetical date with her might go. What they would talk about, where they would go (chips, maybe… he remembered seeing a takeaway box in her rubbish bin during his appointment on Monday), and if they would go on a second hypothetical date.

James collapsed onto his sofa once he got home, and he groaned loudly in frustration. Rose really was a fantastic matchmaker, but he was setting her up for failure because he didn’t think anyone could top the immediate pull he felt towards Rose.

 _That’s it. No more dates._ It’s not fair to him, or Rose, or any of the women she set him up with.

But then his phone dinged, alerting him to an email.

 _Rate Your Date_. James sighed. An email from By Any Other Name. He should’ve deleted the email, but something compelled him to fill it out that it hadn’t worked.

The next day, he’d received a call from Rose, asking if he wanted to meet up to discuss this date’s failure, and before his brain could catch up, he spluttered out a “yes”.

Another failed date later, Donna decided to drag her brother out to lunch. He didn’t get out nearly often enough, and no matter what James said, Donna was sure his lack of social skills had something to do with it.

James huffed but went along with it grudgingly—at least until he saw who they were eating with. Rose. And a handsome man. Her boyfriend, James supposed.

“James, this is Jack.” Rose introduced the men with a smile.

“Nice to meet you,” Jack said, shaking James’ hand. Oh, he was American.

“You too.”

James wanted to be bitter toward the man, but he was all smiles and easy-going humor and he made it _very_ hard to hate him.

“So, you’re one of Rose’s clients?” Jack asked after they’d placed their orders. James blushed a bit, ducking his head.

“Yeah, I am.” His last date had been just as unsuccessful as the first two. This one had been a science professor. Perfectly nice, but just like the first two, there had been no click.

“You’re proving to be a challenge,” Rose teased, reaching across the table to pat James’ hand. “But don’t worry, we’ll find someone for you.”

James’ entire brain momentarily shut down at the touch. That was probably for the best. None of what he was thinking was appropriate to say in front of Rose’s boyfriend.

James had more fun than he imagined he would, and he was fairly certain it was due to the blonde sitting across from him. The conversation at the table flowed easily between the four adults as they swapped work horror stories (wherein James grew quite relieved he was, in fact, _not_ the worst client Rose had ever had) and about what they’d gone to school for and about some upcoming soap opera on TV. And while James was nowhere near interested in the gossip, he found himself listening intently to it because Rose’s face lit up as she spoke.

“So what do you do for fun, James?” Rose asked when she noticed he’d gone quiet a few minutes ago.

“Hmm? Oh, well, I, ehm…”

“He plays on his computer all weekend,” Donna interrupted.

“Ooh, what do you play?” Rose asked, perking up with interest.

James rattled off a few of his favorite games, and he got excited when he saw the recognition in her eyes.

“You play?”

“My mate Mickey is really into Overwatch, he dragged me into it. It’s brilliant.”

“Really?” James lit up. “Who do you play as?”

Donna watched as James and Rose talked for a few minutes, her eyes locked firmly on her brother, and she could plainly see the affection in his eyes. _Idiot_.

“You’re joking, right?” she asked as they headed home. James shot her a confused look.

“What?”

“Don’t you ‘what’ me. She has a boyfriend.”

James bit his tongue for a moment before sighing. “I know. Thanks for reminding me.” The sarcasm was light, but Donna picked up on it easily. She knew her brother.

“Didn’t stop you from making googoo eyes at her the entire time.”

“I was _not_ making googoo eyes,” James said heatedly.

“Were too.”

“Was not.”

Donna rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Sometimes she swore James loved to sabotage himself.

She took a long look at her brother then. He had shoved his hands into his pocket and there were tense lines around his mouth, and Donna finally realized how besotted her brother was.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, touching his forearm carefully.

He sniffed sharply. “Yeah. Thanks for lunch. This was fun. Gotta run now. Got important stuff to do.”

Donna watched him go with a heavy heart. She had suspected he and Rose would hit it off, but she only wished she had realized Rose had a boyfriend before he sent James her way. She’d gotten her brother’s hopes up for nothing.

James nearly sprinted to a nearby cab, waving his arms madly at it to try and keep it parked for a few seconds longer. It thankfully did, and he slid into the back seat and gave the driver his address.

Finally alone, James exhaled raggedly and dragged his hands across his face. Of course this would happen to him. Rose Tyler, utterly beautiful and perfect, and utterly unobtainable. An ache lodged deep in his chest as his mind’s eye shared memories of her smile and her laugh, and how her eyes brightened when she realized they had something in common.

oOoOo

Rose sent Jack off after lunch, saying she had work to do. “Workaholic,” he teased as he kissed her and headed off. He never begrudged her when she couldn’t spend time with him. She appreciated that.

She went to the office, sighing as she booted up her computer. Honestly, she couldn’t believe James was so hard to match. He was smart and funny and handsome and—well, there was really no reason he shouldn’t have been able to hit it off with someone by now. Honestly, he was the kind of person someone could _easily_ fall for.

Rose tried not to think too much about that train of thought as she started going through her files again. Fourth time was a charm, right?

She chewed her lip as she scrolled through her options. James was surprisingly picky; she was going to have to pick someone perfect.

He deserved someone perfect.

Rose blinked, realizing she had been staring blankly at the screen and not actually absorbing anything. Blimey, what was wrong with her? He was a _client_ , and she was thinking about him like… like she had some silly crush.

She forcibly locked up those thoughts (she had a _boyfriend!_ ) as she ran through other potential matches for James. She was about to match him with another person in the science field, but she paused. His last two dates had been with fellow scientists, and neither had worked. Maybe she change it up a bit. _But not too much,_ she thought, remembering back to how he said he and his first date didn’t have enough common interests.

Rose’s next potential match for him was an actuary. She’d be good with numbers, and logical. Hopefully this one would be a better match for him. She scanned through the woman’s profile, looking to see if they had any other common interests.

 _He loves gaming_ , Rose murmured to herself. _And he can talk your ear off about seemingly any topic under the sun. Music lover. Kind hearted. Easy to get along with…_

Rose cursed herself as she once more found herself rereading the same profile three times without having absorbed any of the information. Why couldn’t she get James Noble off her mind?

 _You have a boyfriend_ , she reminded herself firmly as she forced herself to focus on the profile. _You have a boyfriend, you’re fond of him, and James is paying you to find him a partner, not to waste your time thinking about him and not getting anything done_.

She took a deep breath, and finally managed to read the profile. This would be a good match, she decided as she sent the contact info to James, and to his match. It would be great.

It was not great.

The fourth and fifth matches went about as well as the first three, leaving Rose scratching her head and sighing. This was usually about the time she recommended they try another route—it clearly wasn’t working out—but James didn’t seem too discouraged. In fact, he even seemed eager when she suggested another meeting.

Now Rose was sitting in her office, staring at the profile of a one Reinette Poisson. French, beautiful, brilliant, sophisticated, basically perfect in every single way.

She looked up as her office door opened, forcing a smile when she saw James. “Sixth time’s a charm?” She joked, and James laughed. He had a great laugh.

Reinette would probably really like him.

In truth, James had had every intention of coming here and telling Rose that he didn’t want to do this anymore. It was getting to a point where he was spending money just in the hopes of seeing Rose, and that probably wasn’t… good.

But he liked seeing Rose. And he hadn’t forgotten the way she had casually boasted about her ninety-nine percent success rate. He could tell his constant failures were starting to get to her, and he didn’t want to make her feel bad.

Maybe this next one wouldn’t be so bad.

Rose tugged the chair around to her side of the desk, as she’d done for their last several appointments, no longer keeping her desk as a barricade between them. He plopped down beside her, and Rose stifled a shiver when she felt the heat of his arm next to hers as he leaned closer to get a look at her computer screen.

Rose watched his face as he read the profile on Reinette, hoping to get an idea of whether he would be interested in this match.

 _Please don’t be_ , she thought, and she stiffened when she realized what she had just implied.

The longer James spent reading the profile, the brighter his face got, and Rose hated the heavy weight of disappointment that settled low in her stomach. Guilt was soon added to the mix. She should be happy that he seemed excited about this match. That was why he was here, after all. It was her job to match her clients with someone perfectly suited to them.

“Oh, I think the sixth time might be the charm!” James said brightly, and Rose wanted shove him out of her office so she wouldn’t have to look at that stupid happy face of his anymore.

“Brilliant,” she said, a little stiffly. “Let me send you her contact information.”

James jumped out of his seat and said, “Thanks, Rose! I’ll let you know how it goes!”

Rose watched him walk to the door, and she just managed to choke out, “Good luck with it,” before she was alone once more. She should be happy for him, she knew that. So why did it feel like someone had just punched her in the gut?

Out in the hall, James’ smile faded a bit. Reinette really _didn’t_ seem bad—if he had met her at any other time she might have been a good match.

But he’d just put on that show for Rose. He wanted _her_ to be happy, wanted her to know she had found someone for him.

And maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

oOoOo

Jack came by a few hours later with two orders of chips. “Hey Rose!” he said brightly as he walked in, and paused when he found her staring blankly at her computer screen. He knew Rose—they had been friends long before they had started dating—and he knew that look.

Something was wrong.

“Everything okay?” he asked as he sat down in the chair James had vacated earlier, putting the chips on the desk. It was a sign of Rose’s distress that she didn’t immediately grab them and start eating.

“Yeah. Brilliant.”

“Okay, well that’s absolutely convincing and I am in no way suspicious that you’re lying to me,” Jack said dryly. Rose almost smiled. He really did know her so well.

There was a file open on Rose’s desk, and Jack tilted his head to get a look at the name on it. _James Noble_. She must have had a meeting with him. “How’s it going with Mr. Picky?” he asked, munching on a chip.

Rose shrugged. “Set him up with a sixth date. He seemed really excited about this one.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Yeah. Absolutely. It’s great.”

She was a horrible liar. “So… why aren’t you celebrating finally hooking up one of your pickiest clients?”

“It’s only the first date,” she said hotly, glaring at the box of chips as she looked for the perfect one. “None of the other five went well. No telling if this one will be any better.”

Jack looked at Rose. Really _looked_. Behind her clenched jaw and blase attitude, he could see something deeper.

“You don’t really want to match him, do you?” Jack asked softly.

“What? Of course I do!” Rose exclaimed. “S’my job to match him! It’s not _my_ fault he’s so bloody difficult!”

“But you haven’t been overly upset that none of his dates have worked out,” Jack stated.

“I have,” Rose said weakly. “He’s bad for business, after all.”

“You know,” Jack said, resting his hand on her thigh, “you’ve been my friend for three years now. And do you know what I think?”

Rose shook her head as she disinterestedly pushed the chips around with her fingers.

“I think I make a better friend than a boyfriend.”

Rose recoiled and looked over at him.

“You’re breaking up with me?” Rose asked faintly.

“Rose, just answer me this,” Jack asked, giving her thigh a squeeze. “If James ever came into your office and asked you on a date, would you say yes?”

Rose bit her lip. She wanted to say that she would turn him down. He was a client, after all. It was unprofessional. But she couldn’t force the words to come, and her eyes stung when she heard Jack’s soft exhale.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Don’t be,” Jack said brightly, and when Rose looked up at him, she saw a genuine smile on his face. “Really, Rose. You’re one of my best friends. I just want you to be happy.”

Rose smiled back faintly, leaning over to hug Jack tight. She really did love him, even if she wasn’t _in_ love with him.

Now she just had to wait to hear back from James. If this match didn’t work, she had a seventh match in mind that hopefully would.

oOoOo

James’ date with Reinette was Saturday afternoon. Rose spent most of the morning chewing her nails (an old and horrible nervous tick) as she waited, checking her email every few minutes despite knowing it was a coffee lunch date and wouldn’t happen until at least noon.

It wouldn’t work out. She had to keep telling herself that. The last five hadn’t worked out, why would this one? Okay, so Reinette was beautiful and smart and rich and sophisticated. James didn’t necessarily care about those things…

Right?

She got an email from Reinette first, around three. Reinette seemed pleased with how the date had gone, but then, so had James’ last five matches. They had all been surprised and disappointed when Rose had told them James hadn’t wanted a second date.

James’ email came about twenty minutes later. Rose took a deep breath before opening, already knowing exactly what she would see. He wouldn’t be interested in Reinette, just like he hadn’t been interested in all the others. It was fine…

She felt like someone had knocked all the wind out of her when she saw he had agreed to a second date.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the confusion regarding the last chapter. Yours truly forgot to check the box that said this was a multi-chapter work.

_She felt like someone had knocked all the wind out of her when she saw he had agreed to a second date._

… _Oh_.

The world seemed to spin for a moment as Rose stared blankly at the email, blinking back tears. This was supposed to be a good thing. A second date was brilliant, right? It meant he had finally found a match.

_And it wasn’t her_.

Rose didn’t even bother emailing either of them back; they could arrange another date without her help. She just closed her laptop and threw it aside before she curled around a throw pillow and buried her face in the fabric.

_So stupid_. She never should have gotten her hopes up. When she’d first started her business, she swore she would never let her personal feelings get in the way of making a match, and above all, she swore she would never _ever_ fall for a client. Look how well that worked…

Across town, James sighed and tossed his phone onto the couch. He did it. He finally agreed to go on a second date with one of Rose’s matches.

He had genuinely liked Reinette. She was smart and funny and utterly gorgeous. She loved to travel, just like he did, and they had spent most of their date swapping stories about the various countries they’d each been to, and of the places they still wanted to see.

She had been utterly captivating, and James couldn’t, in good conscience, reply to the _Rate Your Date_ email by saying the date didn’t go well. Because it did. Better than any of the others.

No matter. A second date would be good for Rose’s business, right? She could finally rest easy knowing she had matched him with someone he had clicked with. And even as James grabbed his phone to email Reinette, asking her on a second date, he tried ignore the tight knot that was lodged in his stomach.

_Rose was taken_ , he told himself firmly. _Might as well get over it. No use in pining over someone I can’t have. Might as well see if I can be happy with someone like Reinette._

oOoOo

Rose probably shouldn’t have been surprised when Jack called. He, like Rose, had assumed James’ date wouldn’t go well, because none of them had, and he wanted to find out what Rose planned on doing now.

It was tempting to ignore the call, but that was rude. Rose forced herself to pick up, letting out a shuddering breath. “Yeah?”

Jack was quiet for a moment. “ _What’s wrong?_ ” he asked finally, and Rose made a small noise that was somewhere between a sob and a laugh.

“His date went great. They’re going out again. He sounds really happy.” Really, how could she have been stupid enough to get her hopes up? Of course Reinette and James were perfect for each other. How could they _not_ be.

Jack was quiet for another moment. “ _Guess it’s time for me to kick his ass_.”

“Jack, no.” Rose sighed, scrubbing her eyes. “It’s fine. Really. I’m happy for him. Reinette’s great. I’m sure they’ll be happy together.”

“ _You don’t sound too thrilled about it_.”

“It doesn’t matter what I think, does it? He came to me for a service, he paid for the service, and I gave him that service. He was a client. I did my job.” She had to keep telling herself that. It was the only thing keeping her from utterly breaking.

James was too good for her anyways.

“ _Want me to stop by?_ ” Jack asked quietly.

Rose sighed. “No, I’ll be fine. I’ve been falling behind with my other clients anyway. I’ve got more matches to arrange.” Besides, she was sure she would be rubbish company at the moment.

“ _Let me know if you change your mind._ ”

A lump formed in Rose’s throat, and she barely managed to say, “Thanks, Jack,” before she ended the call.

She really did have loads of matches to arrange, but she wasn’t exactly in a matching mood. Every time she tried to arrange a couple, James and Reinette infiltrated her thoughts, and she found herself wondering what would’ve happened if she had intentionally given James a poor match to ensure he would be free the next time he stepped into her office.

That type of thinking was doing nothing for her frame of mind, and she slammed her laptop closed and instead decided to go for a run.

oOoOo

Reinette was wonderful. James couldn’t deny that. She was smart, and funny, and very pretty, and they had a lot in common. Out of everyone Rose had matched him with, she was by far the best. He felt as though he could talk with Reinette for hours, and that was good, right?

Though, as their date progressed, he found his mind wandering—more than once—to a different blonde. One who wouldn’t have minded a date to a chippie—when James suggested that as a location for their second date, Reinette had come back with a different option: dinner at a higher-end restaurant that overlooked the Thames.

As Reinette spoke of the countries she had traveled to, James wondered if Rose liked to travel, and if she would appreciate his style of travel—hop on a bus and disembark wherever it stopped—or Reinette’s style of having everything perfectly planned out months in advance.

As Reinette regaled him with tales of her days from university, and how she’d always loved attending the theater performances put on by the students, James couldn’t help but think back to the way Rose’s eyes lit up when she spoke of being involved in the performing arts department, designing costumes and sets and props.

James sighed quietly when he realized he’d been spending most of their dating thinking of another woman. He felt terribly guilty about that. He _wanted_ to like Reinette. He just… couldn’t force himself to.

And really, that was a horrible attitude. If he had to force himself to like someone, it was never going to work. He had been on the receiving end of that, when his previous girlfriend stayed with him for months, despite the fact she had fallen out of love with him. He would never wish that upon anyone.

“But listen to me, going on and on,” Reinette said, snapping James out of his stupor. “Tell me more about yourself. What do you do for fun?”

James stuttered for a minute, taking a sip of his wine to cover himself. He had kind of been hoping to just spend the entire dinner zoned out. Reinette liked to talk. Okay, so did he, but he at least tried to make it a conversation rather than a CV of his achievements. “Ah, well… I like video games. Computer games, especially.”

He was surprised—and a little offended—when Reinette laughed. “Isn’t that a little juvenile?”

_Rose likes computer games_. He shoved that thought down. “They’re what I like,” he said, a bit hotly.

“I would have thought you’d have more interesting hobbies, is all,” Reinette said, as if it wasn’t a big deal at all that she was mocking something he enjoyed. James bristled a bit, looking down at his plate.

_Rose wouldn’t have laughed even if she didn’t understand it_.

“Then what do you like to do?” James asked stiffly.

Reinette cocked an eyebrow as she said, “Weren’t you listening to me at all earlier?”

_Oops._ James floundered for a way to save face, but thankfully she beat him to it.

“Do you even want to be on this date?” she demanded, setting down her fork.

James grimaced and scrubbed his hand through his hair.

“I thought I did,” he said truthfully. And he really did. He thought if he just tried hard enough, maybe he could make himself forget about Rose and eventually fall for someone else. He thought that, given time, he might be able to click with Reinette as he had done with Rose.

“I suppose this is it then,” Reinette stated, and she pushed herself up from the table and walked out of the restaurant.

James’ cheeks burned as he felt the eyes of nearby patrons on him, looking at him sympathetically. He grabbed his wallet and tossed a few notes onto the table, more than enough to cover their drinks and appetizers, before he, too, stalked out of the restaurant.

He wondered how on earth he’d fallen so hard and so fast for Rose Tyler, and he wondered if she might possibly feel something for him? There was no denying they’d hit it off during that lunch, and they spoke so easily to each other whenever he stopped by her office. But was that just her being a good businesswoman, or was there more behind her teasing grins and easy conversations?

oOoOo

Rose had tried not to think too much about James being on a second date, but over the course of the weekend, she found herself wondering if it went well, and if James and Reinette were going on a third date together.

She should be happy for him. She should be happy for herself, too, that she’d managed to find a suitable match for one of her pickiest clients.

So Rose had been understandably surprised when she walked into the office the next morning to find an email from Reinette Poisson requesting another match. There was nothing from James, which made Rose wonder if maybe he didn’t know the date hadn’t gone well. Oh, that would break his heart.

And he certainly didn’t deserve that. He’d seemed so excited that he finally hit it off with someone. How was she supposed to call him and tell him that his enthusiasm wasn’t reciprocated?

Rose now felt horribly guilty that she had wished James’ date would fail. What sort of business woman hopes to see her clients fail?

She fired up her computer and was working on getting Reinette matched up with someone else when there was a knock at her office door. She looked up, calling, “Come in?” in a confused voice. She didn’t have any meetings scheduled for the day…

Her heart jumped into her throat when James walked through the door. “Hi,” he said quietly when Rose didn’t say anything. “I just wanted to tell you I’m done. I don’t want to do anymore matches.”

So apparently he _did_ know the date hadn’t gone well. That was something of a relief—at least she wouldn’t have to witness his heart break at the news…

…Wait, what had he just said?

“You’re done?” Rose repeated stupidly.

James nodded. “Yeah. It’s clearly not working out. And that’s no fault of yours. This is all on me. I’m just not… I’m really sorry I wasted your time. Thank you, though, Rose.”

He turned to leave, looking so dejected.

“Wait!” Rose burst out, her mind racing as she quickly typed a few things. “Wait, let me just… one more match, okay?”

“No, really, I don’t think that’s a great idea,” James insisted.

“Just one. On the house, even.”

James narrowed his eyes at Rose. She’d never been this pushy before, and she was frantically typing on her keyboard. _What are you up to?_

“Oh, all right.” James sighed and walked around her desk to look at her computer. His eyebrows shot _way_ up when he saw Rose had put together a quick profile of… herself. “What…?”

“Go on a date with me?” Rose asked quietly. And after one heart pounding moment, James’ lips split into a wide grin that sent Rose’s heart fluttering.

And then his smile disappeared.

“No, wait, what about Jack?” James asked, willing away the excitement in his gut. He was all too familiar with being cheated on, and he refused to partake in it, no matter how much he wanted to go on a date with Rose Tyler.

“Oh, we broke up right after I matched you with Reinette,” Rose said, biting her lip shyly. “We decided we make better friends than a couple.”

James blinked at her for a few moments, and Rose exhaled in relief when a bright smile crossed his face once more.

“Then in that case,” he said happily, “I would love to go on a date with you, Rose Tyler. Dinner? When are you free? I’m free most evenings. I could come pick you up after work one day this week?”

Rose giggled happily at his enthusiasm, and the way his gob seemed to take over in his excitement. She leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek and said, “I’m free right now.”

“You are?” he asked dubiously. It was nine o’clock in the morning. Surely she had work to do, matches to make, appointments to keep.

“Yep.” James found himself grinning when she popped her ‘p’ like he did. Did she pick that up from him? He liked to think she did. “Perks of being the boss, you know.”

“But it’s not dinnertime,” James argued. Romantic dinners, soft candlelight, gentle jazz music… Wasn’t that what women liked in a date?

“An astute observation,” Rose teased, and James nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw hers peeking out from the corner of her mouth. “Y’know, breakfast dates are just as romantic. If you’re interested?”

James was desperate to wipe that look of uncertainty off her face, and he announced, “Oh, yes! Absolutely! Breakfast it is!”

“Perhaps the seventh time’s the charm?” Rose asked. She shut down her computer before she grabbed her coat and purse.

“Perhaps.” James grinned and took her hand in his as he walked with her to a nearby diner.

As it turns out, the seventh time was indeed the charm. Not only did date number one with Rose Tyler go smoothly, but dates two, three, four, and one hundred and sixty-nine went smashingly too.

And then came date one hundred and seventy.

“Y’know… I only kept paying for the matchmaking so I could see you.”

After over a year of dating, James felt more or less secure in admitting that to Rose, knowing she would never make fun of him for anything he revealed to her. She did, however, seem rather surprised.

She blinked, raising her head to look at him. They’d been lying on the couch together, enjoying a movie, when James had finally decided to confess.

“What? Seriously?” Rose asked in disbelief. “I set you up on five paid dates. That’s a hundred quid, James! Plus the cost of your dates!”

“Money well spent,” James said with a grin, and Rose didn’t know whether to laugh or slap him.

“Oh, my God, you’re such a dork,” she groaned, shaking her head. “Do you at least want your money back?”

“Nah, it’s fine. I consider it an investment. Besides, don’t married couples share assets anyways?”

Rose rolled over to stare at him, gaping. “What?”

Oops. Right. He hadn’t actually _asked_ yet. He had rehearsed his proposal so many times in his head, he’d forgotten he hadn’t done it yet. _Well this was going brilliantly._

“Ehm… I mean… that is to say… ehm… marry me?” he asked meekly.

Rose burst out laughing. “Jesus _Christ_.”

“Ehm, is that a yes?” he asked faintly, feeling as though his heart was about to beat right out of his chest.

“ _Yes_ , you muppet!”

Rose launched herself at him, knocking him to his back as she straddled him. James settled his hands on her hips as she pressed her lips to his in a tender kiss. Their mouths moved in a familiar rhythm, a series of nipping and sucking and kissing that felt so brilliant.

“I love you,” she murmured against his lips.

“I love you, too,” he whispered, pulling her closer as he enjoyed the feel of her warm weight in his lap. “Does this mean our photo goes on your successes bulletin board at work?”

“Oh, absolutely. Front and center. Best match I ever made.”

“Well, you _did_ fail with matching me six times,” James tease. “Statistically speaking, you and I were bound to work out.”

He giggled and caught her hand in his before she had a chance to smack his chest. He pressed a kiss to her knuckles before he sat up and dropped his hands to his pockets. He wriggled beneath her for a few seconds, trying not to dislodge her from his lap while he rooted around in his pockets. He crowed triumphantly, and a moment later, his hand reappeared holding a little black box.

“How long have you been carrying that around with you?” Rose asked, her heart hammering in anticipation.

“Ehm… a few weeks?”

Rose smiled fondly at him, then gasped as James flicked open the box to reveal a beautiful platinum ring nestled in the soft velvet. He tugged the ring free and took her left hand in his to slide the ring onto her fingers with shaking hands. Rose admired the gleaming sapphires and diamonds that comprised her ring, before she cradled James’s cheeks in her hands and pressed a sweet kiss to his lips.

“I love you so much, Rose,” he whispered, resting his forehead against hers.

“I love you, too.” Rose rubbed the tip of her nose against his, feeling happier than she ever thought she could be. She’d spent most of her adult life matching couples and finding happiness for other people; she was so relieved that she finally found it for herself. And for James.

oOoOo

They were married fifteen months later.

It was a beautiful ceremony, though if James was honest, he only remembered one part of it. It was the most important part, though—the part where Rose walked down the aisle toward him, just moments away from becoming his wife.

He’d never forget that for as long as he lived.

Nor would he forget their first dance together as husband and wife.

“You know, people keep telling me we’re cute together,” James murmured to Rose as they moved slowly around the dance floor. “Maybe we should get married.”

“Regrettably, I’m spoken for,” Rose teased. James put on a mock hurt look.

“Really? Who is it? I’ll fight ‘em.”

Rose burst out laughing, resting her head on his chest. “Dork,” she murmured fondly.

“ _Your_ dork,” James corrected her, brushing his lips across the top of her head.

“Yeah. My dork.”

“Oh, save it for the honeymoon, you too.”

They looked up when they saw Jack dancing towards them with a bloke on his arm and a champagne flute in his hand.

“If you two are quite done, the toasts are about to start,” Jack said. “And yours truly gets the first one.”

James rolled his eyes and dipped down to give his wife another kiss before he took her hand and walked them to their table.

Jack clinked his knife against his glass, garnering everyone’s attention.

“I met Rose five years ago,” Jack said, “when we met on an online gaming chatroom. We hit it off immediately. Which isn’t surprising; everyone who meets Rose can’t help but fall in love with her.”

Jack winked at Rose, and she smiled shyly at him, hiding her red cheeks with her hands.

“Anyways,” Jack continued, “we realized we lived in the same city, we met up, and after a few years, we started dating.”

“You know this is _my_ wedding,” James growled at his friend.

“It’s rude to interrupt a toast,” Jack said sweetly, and Rose giggled at the two of them.

James rolled his eyes, but still scooted his chair closer to Rose so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders.

“However, it wasn’t long before I realized that we just weren’t the right match,” Jack said. “And that was perfectly fine. Because Rose here was destined for someone else, a man much more _Noble_ than myself.”

“Oh, you did not just say that!” Rose groaned.

Jack wiggled his eyebrows at her, looking so pleased with himself. Rose rolled her eyes and shook her head at her friend as he continued his speech.

Truthfully, she stopped paying attention after his horrid pun; she instead leaned back against her husband and took his hand in hers. As she played with his new ring, she spared a thought to her company’s tagline: _There’s a match out there for everyone_. She pressed a kiss to James’ fingers, happy that the sentiment held true for her. James truly was her perfect match.


End file.
